Tim O Reilly: Why is the web the way it is today?

I am currently writing an article about the influence and the direction the internet could have gone if it were not for the FSF/GNU movement. I currently run a political and technology blog at nailchipper.com/weblog. I am also a freelance developer and avid supporter of the open source movement...........I think you're giving way too much credit to the FSF. For example, Larry Wall had never heard of the FSF or the GNU project when he first released Perl as free software. And many of the most important free software programs--Apache, BIND, even the implementation of the TCP/IP protocol that everyone, including Microsoft, based their internet software on--came out of the BSD project, which again, had roots that preceded the FSF and the GNU manifesto. Much of the original Unix development was collaborative, between individuals, universities, and research labs. Not open source by license, but open source by development practice and community dynamics. O'Reilly: Why Is the Web the Way It Is Today?